The Upper Room: A wonderful daily devotional to share with you.

I receive the Upper Room Devotional by email each day. Many times I quickly read through it, especially as I recognize the text upon which they are focusing. As a pastor, I've used parts of the following text in funerals to celebrate how someone with an illness or disease endured their final days. As I read through the July 10th reading this morning (I'm a little behind on things!), it spoke to me in amazing ways in relation to how we as members of the Body of Christ and the world around us should see each other. I hope you enjoy it as well. If you've like to receive this devotional on a daily basis, read all the way to the bottom. I realize there is a copyright law involved in sharing this, but I believe that they would be very happy to know that their work is helping to build God's kingdom here on earth...

Thursday, July 10, 2008
Let Us Pray with You
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Cracked Pots

Suggested Bible Reading
Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God's word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture--"I believed, and so I spoke"--we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
-2 Corinthians 4:1-18 (NRSV)

Today's ScriptureWe have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
-2 Corinthians 4:7 (NRSV)

MY life in Christ has helped me to accept the nature of the clay jar that I am. I have weaknesses. I have strengths. For some people who know me, my strengths outweigh my weaknesses. For others, my weaknesses outweigh my good traits. But we all live somewhere between what we have been and what God is reshaping us to be.
This is an image of God's kingdom. We live in an "already-but-not-yet" time. God's salvation in Christ has already come, but it is not yet enjoyed by all people and all creation. Jesus gave us a glimpse of God's future glory, but its full realization remains future. We live between the already of what God has done and the not-yet of what God will do. The work God has begun in us is not complete.
Yet God's glory is seen clearly in our sinful, broken, imperfect humanity. "We have this treasure in clay jars." We can focus on the clay jar, or we can focus on the treasure. We can condemn each other for being a cracked, chipped, misshapen, leaky, brittle, traditional, or contemporary jar. But if we focus on the treasure, we have hope - hope for me, for you, for enemies as well as friends, for the world - because the treasure is God's extraordinary power at work in us.
Mike Ripski (Tennessee, U.S.A.)
Prayer
Dear God, fulfill your purposes in the world and in us. Amen.
Thought for the Day

Today, I will look for God's treasure in myself and others.

Prayer Focus
For the peace of God among all people

Related Reading
Companions in Christ: The Way of Transforming Discipleship (Participant's Book)Discover what spiritual formation and authentic spirituality are all about in THE WAY OF TRANSFORMING DISCIPLESHIP, the sixth title in the Companions in Christ series. Reflect on what your faith means in terms of who you are, how you must change, how you deal with pain, and how you relate to others.
The scripture quotation is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.PLEASE SHARE THIS MINISTRY with a friend. Invite them to sign up for the free E-Mail Devotional by visiting: http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/email/Copyright © 2008 by The Upper Room. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce or redistribute without written permission from the publisher. http://www.upperroom.org

Are we asking the right questions????

This morning I ventured away from the sports pages of the Boston Herald and moved to the front page of the Boston Globe. I know that I should be doing this on a regular basis but I find following the moves of the Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox much more interesting. I began by reading of Senator Kennedy's return to the Senate floor to vote on the Medicare Bill and then decided to venture further into the national news of the day. It was then that I came upon this article which had me shaking my head. The argument is not whether or not the trailers are safe for human occupation but whether or not someone can be held accountable for their actions. Is there something wrong with this? Could this be one of the problems of our society today, that we don't want to accept responsibility for our actions? Or, that we don't really care about the impact of our decisions on other individuals as long as we make our profit? As we walk through the day today, I invite us to consider if we are asking the right question when making decisions. My suggestion for two possible questions would be:
1) Do we praise God with our decision?
2) Do we serve our neighbor by our actions?

If the answer to either is "No" or the decision doesn't allow for us to ask such questions, I would invite us to stop, pray, and seek God's guidance. No one should suffer from the poison of our unwillingness to make a change in our lives, even if there is a cost involved to us!

GOP backs trailer makers
Report: Firms not to blame for toxins
By Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press July 10, 2008
WASHINGTON - Manufacturers say they are not responsible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers that had toxic levels of formaldehyde, despite Democrats' findings that companies knew of the dangers yet sold them to the government anyway after Hurricane Katrina.
The report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is at odds with an analysis by Republican staff members on the same committee. The Republican report backs the companies and found that trailer manufacturers should not be held accountable for the high levels of formaldehyde - a preservative commonly used in building materials - in trailers that FEMA set up to house people displaced by Katrina in 2005. Republicans say it is the government's fault for not having standards for safe levels of formaldehyde in trailers.
But Democrats say their staff interviewed employees from one of the manufacturers, Gulf Stream Coach, who said they, too, were suffering effects from formaldehyde exposure, including nose bleeds, shortness of breath, dizziness, and bleeding ears.
Gulf Stream Coach Inc., received the bulk of the FEMA trailer contracts after Katrina, collecting more than $500 million.
Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and committee chairman, said the Democrats' investigation found that Gulf Stream tested the trailers, but treated the results as a public relations liability instead of a health hazard.
"It found pervasive formaldehyde contamination in its trailers, and it didn't tell anyone," Waxman said yesterday.
Jim Shea, chairman of Gulf Stream, said there was no actual testing of trailers. Instead, there was informal screening with a Formaldemeter, which is not a scientific test.
Shea said, however, that his company asked FEMA in 2006 whether it should test the trailers, but FEMA said no.
Last year, scientists tested hundreds of FEMA trailers and found potentially dangerous levels of formaldehyde.
There is no government standard for the amount of formaldehyde in travel trailers. Standards are set for indoor air quality for materials used to build mobile homes, but not travel trailers. Katrina victims now occupy 15,000 travel trailers in the Gulf Coast, down from the more than 143,000 trailers that once housed victims.

Thomas Dorsey - Precious Lord, Take My Hand

I received one of those massive emails that talked of the story behind this hymn and so I thought I'd journey to YouTube and see what I could find. Here is the story of Tommy Dorsey, his faith, and this song. It's wonderful to not only hear about a song, but to have the author share the true meaning of the words that God gave to them. Enjoy and then head to YouTube for a number of videos about "Precious Lord..." including Tommy Dorsey leading a church in the singing of the song.